Sorry, Rosablasifann08, another one of my trademark tearjerkers.
Chapter 13
A few months later, at the end of June, Stephanie and Jennifer were out shopping for baby clothes with Maureen and Joanne. Jennifer reached down to get an article of clothing she'd dropped and a look of discomfort came over her face.
Stephanie came over to her, hands full of clothing and hangers. "Jen, are you OK?" she asked, seeing the look on Jennifer's face.
"I'm all right," she said, nodding and placing her hands on her stomach. "It's probably just indigestion. Can we pay for this stuff? I'm ready to go if you three are."
"OK, chica," Maureen said, "we need to get you home to rest, anyway. Stephanie, if you weren't such a normally energetic person, I'd say the same went for you." Stephanie grinned.
"Yeah," Jennifer said, "rest would be nice. I'm pretty tired."
"Come on, Jen," Joanne said, as she paid for the clothes and she, Maureen, and Stephanie walked out of the store together.
They were barely past the doors when it happened. Jennifer suddenly doubled over and grabbed her stomach in pain.
"Jen!" Stephanie exclaimed, as Jennifer fell to her knees. "Jen, what is it?"
"I think… I think I'm… losing the baby…" Jennifer gasped.
"What?" Stephanie said, and then she saw the blood coming from Jennifer. "Somebody help!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Mo, go call 911!"
Maureen didn't need to be told twice. As people started to gather around Jennifer, Stephanie, and Joanne, she took off running and went to go call 911. She returned, panting heavily, a few minutes later, with the EMT's right behind her.
"She was just walking around and she started bleeding," Stephanie said to them, terrified, as they lifted Jennifer onto the gurney. "She hasn't had one before, it's her first pregnancy. Please take care of her."
"We'll do our best," the EMT's said.
"Stephie, don't leave me," Jennifer said to Stephanie, giving her a terrified look. "Where's Mark? Get Mark, OK? I need him. I want to see him."
"I'll get him, I promise," Stephanie said, nodding feverishly at Jennifer. "You'll be OK, Jen. It'll be OK, I promise. We'll get through this."
Jennifer nodded before the EMT's whisked her away. "I know," she said. "Just please, get Mark, OK?"
"I will," Stephanie said, and then Jennifer was gone. Stephanie turned to Maureen and Joanne. "Come on," she said, "we've got to get Mark and Roger and tell them what happened."
Maureen and Joanne nodded. "Of course," Joanne said. "Let's go. We'll see her as soon as we can. She'll be OK, Steph."
Stephanie nodded. "I know," she said. "I just keep thinking back to what Roger said."
"What did he say?" Joanne asked.
"He said that… that Angel and Mimi are looking out for Jen and me… that they'd take care of our babies."
"They are. This isn't something they would do. You know how badly we all wished Mark would get a girl after Maureen— no offense, Maureen," Joanne added, "but you know what I mean— and then he met Jennifer and everything worked out. This can't be something Angel and Mimi did."
"I know," Stephanie said, "I know. But still, not Jennifer… she doesn't deserve this."
"Let's just do what she asked and get Mark for her, OK?" Joanne said. "That's all we can do for now."
Stephanie nodded and swallowed nervously. Then she followed Joanne and Maureen out of the mall.
"Jeez, did you three buy out Baby Gap?" Roger joked, when the three women walked into the loft with the bags of clothes.
"Roger, we don't have time to explain," Joanne said seriously, taking over the situation.
"Where's Jennifer?" Mark asked, his smile faltering at the looks on the three women's faces.
"That's what we need to tell you," Joanne said firmly. "Something happened to Jennifer at the mall— she started hemorrhaging out of nowhere, and the ambulance had to come get her."
"Oh my God," Mark exclaimed, "is she OK? Where is she?"
"They took her to Bellevue," Stephanie said. "We haven't seen her since. But she wanted to see you. Come on."
Mark nodded, a horrified look on his face, and he followed Stephanie, Roger, Collins, Joanne, and Maureen out of the loft.
Mark rushed into the emergency room, Stephanie, Roger, Collins, Joanne, and Maureen right behind him. Stephanie subconsciously put a hand to her stomach, thinking about the little Davis soul growing inside of her.
"I'm looking for Jennifer Cohen," Mark said to a nearby nurse. The nurse pointed to a nearby bay, and Mark immediately went over to it. "Jennifer, are you here?" he called.
"I'm here, Mark," she said, and Mark could hear her sobbing.
"I'm coming in, OK?" Mark said, and then he went in to her. Everyone listened to what they would say to one another. "Jen, what did the doctor say?"
"He said that I lost the baby, Mark," Jennifer said, starting to cry, and her voice trailed off to barely a whisper. "Our son… he's gone."
Mark closed his eyes in sudden, intense pain. His heart felt like it was being torn in two. Grief pressed against his chest like bands, making it hard to breathe. Tears welled up in his eyes and he held Jennifer in his arms. "We had a son?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jennifer sobbed, shaking badly. "The doctor on call told me. Remember, our appointment to find out the gender was next week? Mark, what are we gonna do?" she asked. "I mean, they said I can try to conceive again in about two months, but why did this happen? I'm so scared..." Her voice trailed off again.
"I know, Jen," Mark said, wrapping his arms around her. "But it'll be OK. We'll get through it." He let go of her and looked deep into her eyes.
"Don't leave me, Mark," Jennifer said, taking his hands in hers.
"I'm not gonna leave you, Jen; that I promise you," Mark said firmly, and they cried together.
I'll update ASAP. This weekend is gonna be killer, because I've got prom going on tomorrow and everything, LOL. My date's even driving 420 miles one way to go with me; I'm so spoiled, I know, LOL.
But the next chapter will be up as soon as I possibly can write it. Don't forget to review, and I hope I didn't stun anyone too badly in this chapter. It will get better, I promise.
Until next time, lots of love,
Renthead07